There have been many attempts to formulate an effective solution for cleaning and polishing metal surfaces of all kinds. There have been a number of soft metal cleaners and polishes available for brass etc. Recently, many articles of manufacture are made from aluminum. Many of these articles require a bright finish before the article can be placed in commerce to be sold. For example, in the manufacture of aluminum and other metal trailers, and liquid hauling tanker trucks, the desired finish is brilliant bright, and in some cases a mirror-like finish is required. The existing products and compounds on the market today require a great amount of cleaning, polishing and buffing work to gain the desired finish. Additionally, many of today's products contain chemicals that are not healthy, or eco-friendly. In some cases, these chemicals require health warnings, and some require special disposal regulations.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,014 issued to Garcia provides for an acidic solution for use as an aluminum cleaning and brightening composition includes an aqueous solution of from about 1-15 weight percent hydrofluoric acid, about 1-5 weight percent sulfuric acid, and about 1-5 weight percent phosphoric acid. In addition, approximately 83-97 weight percent of an aqueous hydrochloric acid-based composition is included, which composition has a pH of less than about 1.0 yet is substantially non-reactive with compounds having low oxidative states, including human skin tissue.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,172,025 issued to Johnson et al. provides for a vehicle cleaning solution including a predetermined amount of mineral spirits and a predetermined amount of jeweler's rouge mixed with the mineral spirits for cleaning various vehicular components.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,425,929 issued to Naney provides a metal cleaner-polish in the form of a substantially homogeneous liquid slurry containing aliphatic hydrocarbons, finely divided abrasive, and isopropanol as a stabilizer/solvent.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,780,212 issued to Luctman provides a finishing composition for a variety of surfaces, including, without limitation, paints, metals, plastics and fiberglass, comprises water, wax, soap, scent, hair conditioner, mineral spirits and abrasives.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,896,739 issued to Croce provides an aqueous solution that has the capacity for removing tarnish and other soil from copper, silver, gold and other noble metals and alloys thereof comprises an acid, thioruease and a transition metal salt. The aqueous material can be used to treat the surfaces of such articles for the purpose of removing tarnish. Such tarnish is removed by the composition and the composition treats the metal surface to retard the re-appearance of tarnish contaminants.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,045,492 issued to Jenevein et al. provides a cleaning composition for treating and removing residues containing hydrocarbons and other flammable substances uses a mixture of one or move cleaning members containing quaternary salts, a chelator and a dispersant, mixed with water. The preferred cleaning members are tetradecyltrim-thylammonium bromide, tetrasodium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, benzethonium hydrochloride and 2-butoxyethanol. The chelator is tetrasodium, salt ethylenediamine of tetraacetic acid, and the dispersant is polyvinyl alcohol. Optionally, the cleaner contains ethanol and isopropyl alcohol.
In nearly all of the above cases, the patented solution contains chemicals or compounds that are environmentally unfriendly, or can cause human skin or tissue irritation or injury. In some instances the chemicals present in these formulations are known to cause cancer. Moreover, the compounds and solutions do not clean and polish metal with very much efficiency or effectiveness, that is, a great amount of work cleaning and polishing are required to gain the desired finish. Most do not remain in suspension or possess a pleasant odor. Finally, these solutions do not confer long lasting anti-tarnish effects. Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a metal cleaner polisher and anti-tarnish solution that was effective, efficient, and economical to use, as well as eco-friendly and gentle to human skin and tissue.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of composition and to the formulation of the ingredients set forth in the following description. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. In addition, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.